| Pollard May 31st 1864 |
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| Hon Secretary of War |
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| The President of the Alabama & Florida Rail
Road Company of Florida, the undersigned asks, that the amount awarded
by the State Commissioners as the value of certain rolling stock of
said company ($252,504.48) be paid in full, and in the new issue of
Treasury notes for these reasons. |
| This stock was offered to the managers of
the Ala. & Fla. R. Road (of Ala) and Mobile & G. N. {Great
Northern} R. Road
?????? for use upon those roads on the following terms -- $25 per day
for use of Engines, and for use of Cars 10 pr ct upon the country. |
| The Superintendent of the Alabama road
(Mr. Jones) refused to take our stock upon these terms, and Mr.
Pollard President of that road, through Gov'r Shorter of Ala. induced
Gen'l Forney then in command of this Department, to seize our stock
and place it on Government account upon those roads. |
| From the time of seizure under General
Forney's order (25 Apr 1862) to 15 August 1863, the Government paid the
owners hire for this stock at the rate of $25 per day for Engines, three
dollars per day for cars the stock having been taken from under the
care and control of the company. |
| On the 15 August 1863, D. H. Kinney, under
the alleged authority of the Secretary of War, again seized this
rolling stock. This seizure originated the present claim. |
| No delay has occurred in the settlement of
this claim, except that which grew out of the acts of the agent of the
Confederate Gov't. |
| The offer of D. H. Kinney, the Gov't
Agent, was of a character to render it at once apparent "just
compensation" was not to be obtained under his auspices. |
| Mr. Kinney's offer for Engines was $25,000
each |
| The State Commissioners value for Engine
"Industry" was $100,000 |
|
"
"
"Javelin" "
$60,000 |
| Mr. Kinney's offer for Passenger
Cars was $3,000 |
|
"
" Baggage or 2d class " 2,500 |
|
"
" Box cars
each
2,000 |
|
"
" Flat
"
"
1,900 |
| The award of the commissioners for
Passenger cars was $8,000 |
|
Baggage 2d class
"
5,750 |
|
Box cars
each
3,250 |
|
Flat
cars
2,500 |
| Difference between Mr. Kinney's offer and the award of
the commissioners for all the rolling stock seized is $274,660.00.
Because the necessity and importance to the company of impressment and
appraisment. |
| Figure was made by Mr. Kinney 13th August
1863 |
| Local appointment was had 15th Dec 1863 |
| The appeal to the State commissioners was
made by Major Aurin Walter in letter dated 21st ??? 1864 |
| A copy of Major Meriwether's letter marked
A, shows when notice was given the undersigned of the appeal |
| The letter marked B shows why I could not
attend a trial until middle of April. |
| Immediately after my return from Richmond
I proceeded to collect testimony, and prepare for the trial. This was
done with as little delay as possible, and the case submitted to the
commissioners on the 26th day of April 1864 |
| As will thus be seen, no
"delays" were "interposed" by the undersigned,
save those which the action of the Government Agent rendered necessary
in order to ascertain what was the legal rights of the company, and to
obtain a decision by the proper tribunal as to what was "just
compensation" for the property taken. |
| The property was impressed by the
Government Agent |
| From that time to the present, with the
exception of the Engine "Javelin" and two cars, this stock
has been in possession of the representatives of the Government,
entirely beyond the control of the Rail Road Company. The Government
is therefore responsible for all depreciation of the stock and also
the ordinary wear and tear. |
| To seize the stock, turn it over to the
possession of private parties and then charge the owner as Major
Meriwether has done, because the stock depreciated -- seems -- with
all due deferment to military practice -- to be piling injustice upon
injustice. |
| The stock was seized 13 August 1863.
Government has been in possession ever since, with the exceptions
mentioned. |
| They charge hire for this stock-- clearly
then the owners should have the amount received for rent or should
receive from Government interest or the value of the stock from the
date of seizure to the date of final settlement -- else Government
will have the use of this stock from 13 August 1863 to 24 ??? 1864 and
on to the date of final settlement, and for that use will have given
nothing. |
| The offer of the Government agent was so
far below what the award of the commissioners there was "just
compensation" that no proper regard for the interest
committed the charge of the undersigned, required that the course
adopted should be pursued. |
| With regard to the charge by Government
agent for use of Engine "Javelin" and Passenger and baggage
cars -- should it be considered a charge should be made -- the charge
made is -- in the opinion of the undersigned an exorbitant one. |
| The affidavit marked "C" shows
the distance run by Engine and cars during the time the company is
charged for their use did not exceed 2221 miles. The charge is thus
shown to be $2.42 per mile for use of Engine 29 cts per mile for use
of Box cars 4 cts per mile for use of 2d class passenger car -- for
the Engine and two cars, $3.19 per mile $319 for one hundred miles use
-- or as may be said for one day's work. |
All the disinterested testimony presented
to the commissioners placed the value of
|
|
Engine |
"Industry" |
at least |
$125,000 |
|
|
" |
"Javelin" |
|
75,000 |
|
|
Passenger car |
|
|
10,500 |
|
|
Baggage or 2d class car |
|
|
7,200 |
|
|
Box cars |
each |
|
4,050 |
|
|
Flat cars |
" |
|
3,170 |
|
| Mr. W. L. Clark Superintendent Muscogee R.
Road Geo. |
| Col. Isaac Scott President Macon &
Western R. Road " say that at least the above prices
would be paid in the new issue of Treasury Notes. |
| The letter of Mr. John T. Aiken Chief
Engineer and Spr North & South Ala. R. Road exhibit this view. |
| The certificate of the commissioners
marked D shows what they mean by their award. |
| In view of all the above facts the
undersigned asks -- that -- the award of the commissioners be paid in
full in the new issue of Treasury Notes. |
| That interest on the amount of the award,
less the value of Engine "Javelin" and two cars, be allowed
from the date of the seizure of the rolling stock 13 August 1863 to
the day of final settlement -- or rent be paid for the stock at the
usual rates. |
| That the charges for use of Engine
"Javelin" and two cars be remitted. |
| Rspy Submitted |
| O. M. Avery |
| Pres. Ala. & Fla. {of
Florida} R. R. Co. |
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| 26th Aug. 1864 |
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| Respectfully returned. |
| It appears that Mr. Avery makes two
objections to this acct. 1st He claims that he should not be
charged with the use of the engine & cars. |
| I do not see how we can consent to
this costhond referring the papers back to Col. Meriwither for
the ground in which he made the charge. The rates of hire are
believed to be such as the Government has been paying to
Companies & as Companies have in many cases have been paying
to each other for the hire of engines & cars. 2nd Mr. Avery
claims interest from 12th Aug 1863. |
| This would be establishing a new
precedent -- contrary to the uniform practice of the Government. |
| There is another consideration. When
the local appraiser acted (Dec 15th 1863) the old currency was
in circulation. If we regard the award of the State Appraisers
as new currency they actually increased the prices of the local
Appraisers instead of diminishing them as they proposed to do. |
| There was a difference of 33 1/3 per
cent in the value of these two currencies. |
| The Appraisers state that their
award had reference to the currency in circulation on 26th of
April 1864. It is clearly a fair inference that their valuation
had reference to the same date. |
| If interest had been contemplated at
all it should have been stated in the award. |
| For the foregoing reasons I think
the Government should not depart from its uniform practice, to
pay interest in this account. |
| Chas. G. M. Garnett |
| Commissioner |
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| Engineer Bureau |
| 26 Aug 1864 |
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| Respectfully submitted to the Hon. Secy of War. |
| I concur in the views expressed by
Col Garnett and recommend that the account be paid as approved
by Lieut Col Meriwether. The payment to be in new currency
as the Commissioners certify that the award was based on this
currency. |
| J. F. Gilmer |
| Major Gen & Chf Engr |
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| Genl Gilmers indorsement approved |
| James A. Seddon |
| Sey |
| 26 Aug 64 |
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